


Raise the Devil, Seek the Light

by DamnBlackHeart



Category: Devil May Cry, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Action, Adult Content, Adventure, Angst, Crossover, Death, F/M, Humor, Lemon, Lime, Mild Sexual Content, Mystery, Romance, Sexual Situations, Strong Language, Suspense, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-23 04:48:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3755074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DamnBlackHeart/pseuds/DamnBlackHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuu is just an normal girl, with two best friends living in a world where nothing abnormal happens. But when yellow lights that look like eyes start to appear in the darkness and people are disappearing, her world turns into chaos. The only way for her to survive through this, will depend on how strong her heart is.</p><p>Dante x OC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fireflies That Look Like Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a crossover of Kingdom Hearts and Devil May Cry. It's going to rely heavily on Devil May Cry though, with familiar characters and elements of Kingdom Hearts appearing. My focus on this story is to make it realistic, mature and hopefully, scary.
> 
> I don't expect this story to be "popular", since crossovers aren't well liked. But I'm hoping to change that and show people that crossovers can be awesome if they're developed well. Also, this story was originally an reader-insert but I wanted to make an OC version of it so that I can post it on FF.net as well. I tried to keep the essence of a reader-insert when I turned it into a OC story. Which is why that I've wrote this in a way where readers can still insert themselves into the story. It's why I haven't given the OC a name, nor mention details about her appearance. But I have a feeling that will change in the future.
> 
> Disclaimer: Devil May Cry is copyright to Capcom Production Studio. Kingdom Hearts is copyright to Square Enix and Disney. The song in the beginning is not mine it belongs to well, the source (if links were allow it would be here) didn't say. Most of the songs I've heard have frequent references to the rebirth of light. I found that particular chant quite fitting for the story and that is why I used it.

_"Darkness is the place of birth,_  
Darkness is the womb,  
Darkness is the place of death,  
Darkness is the tomb,  
Death belongs to life,  
Half of day is night...'' 

In a dark room, a haunting melody rang through the air. It was beautiful and yet unsettling at the same time. At the end of the whispering voice, the piano stopped. The pianist hands were the only visible things in the room. They slid off the keys, slipping back into the dark.

"Where am I?" a quiet voice, breathe. "...what, what am I doing here?"

Whoever spoke, their slow breathing was the only sound in the room. It was quiet for a few seconds and then there was shuffling. A lamp turned on, flooding the room with a weak light. The female blinked a few times, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She moved her hand away from the lamp, grasping her head. She appeared to be dazed and confused.

She looked around, wondering how she manage to get there. She was sitting on a bench in front of a piano, in what appeared to be a living room. It was late at night and she nearly forgotten that she wasn't at home. Her friend, Nirdesa invited her and Lacrima to stay the night over. She was the only one awake, everyone else in the house was sound asleep.

"Last thing I remember was going to bed. How did I get here? Wait, wasn't there a song playing? But how...that couldn't have been me. I don't know how to use a piano. I've never even heard of that song before..."

The girl shook her head, rationalizing that maybe it was a combination of dreaming and sleep walking. She got up, turned off the lamp and made her way upstairs.

She reached Nirdesa's room, noting that both of her friends were still asleep, and haven't been disturbed by the ruckus she made. She walked over to her sleeping bag and when she was about to slip inside, she heard something.

She paused, looking towards the window. The sound came from outside and she felt an uneasy feeling creeping inside her. These past couple of days she had been feeling odd, especially when the sun went down. She would always push the feeling down and it would settle but when the sun started to set, it grew. There was something wrong with the night.

And like always, she sighed, reassuring herself that she was only being paranoid. It was normal to not feel completely comfortable in a new environment. To prove it, she slowly crawled towards the window and moved the curtains to the side. The street looked normal, and nothing was out of place. Nirdesa's neighborhood was one of those quiet ones where not that many cars came by, not even people. The only thing that looked off about it was that it seemed to be darker than usual. The streetlights were barely making a dent in the dark, and the sky seem to be facing the same issue. Instead of the usual blueish black sky it was pitch black.

"Maybe it's just a cloudy night," she mumbled, glancing back to her sleeping friends and then outside. _'What the hell is that? That wasn't there before. Nope, nope, I must be tired enough to be seeing things. I'm going back to bed,'_ she thought, nearly slamming her face against the window.

At the end of the street, in the darkest areas, little yellow orbs were floating around. At first they appeared to be fireflies but it was obvious that they weren't. They were paired together, looking more like eyes. Eyes, that seem to hungry for something.

The girl backed away from the window and slip back into her sleeping bag. She tried to fall asleep but she couldn't. She was still thinking about the yellow things outside and the strange experience she had down stairs.

 _'I'm so tired. I shouldn't have stayed up late yesterday and now I'm paying the price for it. And that song, though, something about it worries me. It sounds like a warning and it's about the dark. Everything begins in darkness. When we are born, it is dark in the womb. When we die there is darkness. Before the light came into existent it was dark, I think? Ugh, I'm getting a headache,'_ the girl thought, rubbing her head.

She turned over, her back facing the window. She closed her eyes and let her mind go blank. When she finally fell into a deep sleep, she subconsciously whispered.

_''Out of the uncharted, mysterious dark we came,_  
And in a little time we all shall return again.  
Into the vast, unanswering darkness.  
We'll be home at last.'' 


	2. Something Is Just About To Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Author's Note:** I know this chapter is a bit boring, but I promise it will pick up soon. It's important that this chapter sets everything up, but afterwards the action will kick in. Also, I know the names Nirdesa (Nee-r-desa) and Larcrima (Lar-kree-mah) are quite odd, but there are a couple of reasons for them. You might figure them out the further you progress through the story.
> 
> I originally wasn't going to name the main OC, but it's not easy to avoid in third person perspective. So I decided to use the name Yuu, because it's pronunciation is similar to the English word "You". It's also a unisex name and depending on how it's written it can have several meanings.

**Chapter 2**

**Something Is Just About To Break**

Yuu woke up to the sounds of footsteps. She peeked out from under her blanket, quickly noticing that it was bright. She shut her eyes, wincing at the sting. Once the pain went away, she looked again and spotted Nirdesa and Larcrima's unoccupied sleeping bags. She relaxed, remembering where she was. She shifted onto her side and stared out at the now open window.

"Hey, I see you're awake. For a moment I thought you would be sleeping the whole day away," Nirdesa said, "At least you're up now and saved me the trouble of doing so.''

Yuu turn her attention to Nirdesa and forced down a yawn from escaping. "Ugh, I'm so tired," she said, sitting up and stretching her sore body.

"I'm not surprise. You were the last one to fall asleep."

"And how do you know that?" she asked, getting up from her sleeping bag.

"My mom said she heard you moving around and came in to check if you were okay."

"Oh. And where's Larcrima?" she asked, putting her sleeping bag away, along with a few of her scattered clothes.

"She's down stairs eating breakfast. We should go and eat too," Nirdesa said, rubbing her eyes.

Yuu nodded and quickly went to the bathroom changing her clothes. Once she was done she entered the room again, putting those clothes away.

"Were you up for long?" she asked, following Nirdesa downstairs.

"Yeah, you know how I am in the mornings. I'm surprise my body is still functioning right now when I'm so use to sleeping in. After all, it's summer and that's means staying up and sleeping in," she said, sleepily.

"I know what you mean," Yuu laughed, stretching her arms over her head. "Uh, why did Larcrima wake us up early?" she moaned, feeling cranky.

"She's the one making us get up? What for?" Yuu asked, curious. _'Larcrima is not a morning person either. So why in the world is she awake?'_ she thought.

"I'm not sure. She said something about being hungry and that she was listening to the news while she was making breakfast," Nirdesa said, tying her hair into a messily bun. "Whatever it was must have freaked her out."

"Hmmm, she doesn't get concern easily and that's what worries me," Yuu said. She ran her hand through her hair hoping to get some of the knots out.

"You're lucky that she didn't wake you up first," Nirdesa said, looking at Yuu. She pick up a brush from her desk and threw it at her. Yuu caught it, grateful to get the stubborn knots out of her easily tangled hair.

"Why?" Yuu asked. _'I'm guessing she threaten to use water on her,'_ she thought. She finish brushing her hair and put it in a ponytail.

"She kept poking me. It was annoying and what was worst was that she was making comments about my crush. I'll get her back for that later," Nirdesa said, smiling, but her eyes glinted wickedly for a second.

Yuu looked at her and smile carefully while sweat-dropping. _'Never ever do any poking when she's in a bad mood or sleeping,'_ she thought.

After five minutes of being upstairs Nirdesa and Yuu, walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Yuu was the first to spot Larcrima eating pancakes and watching the news on the small television that was sitting on top of the fridge.

"Hey," Nirdesa said, dully. She stopped walking to yawned and then continue on to the seat next to Larcrima.

"Morning," Yuu said, as she passed by Larcrima and sat down in front of her.

"Morning," she replied, just as dully.

Yuu and Nirdesa sat down. In the middle of the table there was a plate of pancakes, syrup, a bowl, utensils, a cereal box and a carton of milk.

"I'm so tired," Yuu moan, dropping her head against the table. She force herself to sit up straight, grabbing the plate of pancakes. She added some syrup to them and took a bite. Feeling thirsty, Yuu got up and got a glass of chocolate milk. While Nirdesa grabbed the the cereal.

"It's too early in the morning, it's to be expected," Larcrima said, stabbing her last piece of pancake.

"True," Nirdesa said. Yuu nodded her head in agreement.

"So what's going on in the news?" Yuu asked as she turned to the television. On the screen there was a red warning sign flashing behind the reporter. Despite his calm appearance, he sounded frightened.

"They are talking about sightings of a creature, or creatures around the world," Larcrima answered, staring attentively to the television.

"Really? What's the big deal about that?" Nirdesa quipped, munching on her cereal. "It sounds like a hoax."

"It's not. They're saying that there are little yellow things, eyes, that are appearing at night and people who get to close to them disappear," she answered, turning to Nirdesa. "They haven't been able to get much information about whatever it is because of that."

"Disappearing?" Yuu asked, knitting her eyebrows together. _'Is this connected to the yellow eyes that I saw last night?'_ she thought.

"It's like they disappeared into thin air. There has been some footage from several store's security cameras and amateur videos, showing these things everywhere and what happens when people get to close to it. There's also reports of people disappearing, in the thousands I think and they are asking for everyone to stay indoors at night. People are panicking and stocking up on supplies too," Larcrima said, seriously. "They're even increasing police patrols and closing off area where these things appear."

"Wow, that bad? What are these things that people keep talking about?" Nirdesa questioned. She finished her cereal and grabbed Larcrima's empty plate as well to bring to the kitchen sink.

"I've been keeping track of the news this week and it has been getting worst. At first, the reports of disappearance were few and unrelated. But it wasn't until someone caught evidence of it happening that they started to consider that there's a connection with them all," Larcrima said, "Some people are suggesting that this has been going on since last week, that it was happening to the homeless people, then the druggies, prostitutes, and criminals. Basically people that police don't put too much effort into helping or caring about. So until those with upstanding backgrounds starting disappearing too, then they started to care and they're the ones that made it into the news. As for those things, they don't know where they're coming from or what they are. It's just too dark for anyone to see. Any flashlights used end up dying whenever people are too close to it, especially when aiming the lights at those things. All they know is that there are a lot of them because only their eyes are visible. Unless it's just one huge monster that has a lot of eyes."

"Hasn't anyone tried to kill it?" Nirdesa asked.

"I'm sure a few have tried. It would explain how the news knows that if you kill one that more will take it's place," said Larcrima, "That could mean there's just too many of them. Or who knows, maybe it grows more heads like a hydra. But they're pretty sure it's not just one huge creature though."

"Do you think they are here too?" Yuu asked, tapping her fork against her empty cup. "It's just strange that this, whatever it is, is happening suddenly…like why now?" _'Those things from last night…that was them,'_ she thought, frowning.

"I don't know," Larcrima said, "there's a lot that's going on that we don't know yet."

All three of them turned back to the television as attention-grabbing music cut through the air and the screen behind the reporter changed.

"This breaking news update is just in! It is still unclear how many people have disappeared, but the number continues to grow. The military and police forces are working together to find a way to keep the yellow eye creatures at bay. Their efforts are not having much effect, but they advise residents to stay indoors and to avoid going out at night. These creatures are only active at night, which is why a curfew has been put into place for 8 pm. On our website we have a map marked with the areas in which these creatures have been known to appear. Raquel Almodovar, our field reporter has managed to capture a decent photo of what it is that the nation is dealing with."

A slightly blurry image of a dark creature with glowing yellow eye appeared on the screen. It wasn't a clear photo but it helped people put a face to what was taking people.

"Please, we stress that everyone stay indoors and limit your activities to only the day. There hasn't been any incidents of them entering homes and attacking people. But if they do please do not confront them. It's best that you hide or run away, and contact your local authority. We highly advise you to not panic! Local forces are doing everything they can to keep everything under control," the reported said.

The scene changed to where people were fighting other people on the streets and the police trying to keep order. Then it changed to a store where people were looting and at the sound of police coming they all scatter with their looted items.

''Wow, they are acting like it's the end of the world," Nirdesa said, grabbing the remote, "Every disaster seems to bring out the worst in people."

"It's stupid. The news is just making it worst by telling people to stay indoors. I mean it's understandable and it makes sense, but they are already panicking and it makes other people panic. Get what I mean?" Larcrima said, snatching the remote from Nirdesa.

"Yeah," Yuu said, taking the remote from Larcrima who was holding it away from Nirdesa.

Yuu stared at them apathy for a few seconds then back to the television and flip through the channels. Each channel showed the same thing. Even the normal schedule programs were showing the yellow eye creatures appearing in different areas of the world. _'I haven't watch the news lately, so all this feels like it's happening so fast. But if Lacrima says is true, this has been building up for a while and it's more obviously now,'_ she thought.

"Oh, it's everywhere," Larcrima said, looking at the television. "I thought it was just us that were dealing with this.

"Okay, now I want to panic," Nirdesa said, smiling nervously. She fidgeted around, trying to keep calm. She noticed that Yuu's cup was empty and to keep her hands busy, she got up and took it to the kitchen sink. Then she started washing the some of the dirty dishes and putting the rest into the dish washer.

"I do too, but it's important to stay calm and keep your head clear," Larcrima sighed, staring at the television. "Panicking just makes the situation even worst."

"You got that right, but it's hard to stay calm. You both know how I can get when something worries me," Nirdesa said, placing the plates in the drying dish rack.

Yuu turned off the television and got up from the kitchen. She walked towards the living room, pass the piano and went to the window. Lacrima and Nirdesa soon followed her, also looking out the window. _'I got this horrible unsettling feeling in my stomach. Like something bad is gonna happen today…no, tonight,'_ she thought. _'In the darkness…'_

"Wow, I didn't expect to see so many people running around," Lacrima said.

"Me too," Nirdesa agreed. She walked over to her couch and sat down. "I live on a busy street so it's always full of people and cars, but not this much. Now that I think of it, I was finding it weird that lately when it got closer to night the less people I saw. I guess this explains why."

"Everyone's trying to get stuff done before nightfall. They kinda look like chickens with their heads cut off," Yuu said, scanning the area for any of those dark creatures. Seeing none, she and Lacrima joined Nirdesa. Yuu sat down on her right while Lacrima sat on her left.

"What are we going to do?" Lacrima asked, worried.

"Obviously it's not safe outside, especially at night," Yuu said, fiddling with her fingers. "Even if we stay inside there's no guarantee that we'll be safe either. The news doesn't know anything for sure. All they're going by is from educated guesses and observation."

"Even if we stayed indoors there are other issues that we have to deal with," Nirdesa said, moaning with frustration. "Like how long will this last? What about food? How will we stay sane? What if the military, the police and whoever else loses the fight against those creatures? What will happen to us after that? What if the electricity goes out? What happens if those things get us? Do we-"

"Calm down. We get it. There's a lot we have to deal with, but thinking about it all at once is going to overwhelm you. The best thing we can do is to focus on one thing at a time," Lacrima cut in, before Nirdesa could ramble on some more.

"She's right. No matter what's going on, zombie apocalypse, end of the world, alien invasion or who knows what, we have to stay level headed," Yuu said, rubbing her forehead in hopes it will prevent a headache from appearing. "Letting our mind become clouded with fear will end up making our situation worst and we'll be making the wrong decisions that can cost us dearly."

"Okay. Do you guys think this is an alien invasion?" Nirdesa asked, worriedly.

"It's possible. They can't possibly be from Earth. But who knows? We've never seen anything like them before," Yuu stated. _'What are they? Aliens? Demons? An experiment gone wrong? A new type of animal that hasn't been discover until now? Or something else entirely?'_

"Well, it's better than them being zombies," Lacrima said, wincing, "That would have been so much worst."

"Where's your mom, Nirdesa?" Yuu asked, looking around.

"She left a note saying she went out to the super market," Nirdesa said, "and my dad went with her too."

"Oh.''

''I should call my mom," Lacrima said, leaning over to poke Yuu. She stare at her confused, until Lacrima pointed over to her side. She looked over and saw that on her left was the cordless phone. She picked it up and handed it over to her.

"Thanks.''

She dial her house number and waited for her mom to pick up. Yuu and Nirdesa waited quietly, watching as Lacrima got up and pace around the room. After three minutes of pacing, dialing again and not saying anything, she hanged up the phone off.

''I'm not getting any respond. I keep calling and all I'm getting is the busy signal," Lacrima said, worriedly, "I even tried her cell."

"Try again later and see if it works then. Or maybe a fourth time will work?" Nirdesa said. She got up and went to get her cell phone. Lacrima did just that and again it still didn't work.

"Now, I want to call my parents too," Nirdesa said, with her cell phone already out and ringing. A minute later she put down the phone and plopped onto the sofa.

"That was pointless and I'm worry," she said, throwing her hands up in frustration, "I completely forgot that when there's a disaster or something similar, that everyone is trying to call their love ones at the same time. The result is that all the phone lines and cell phones are busy. If it gets to be too much, all the systems become overloaded and stop working."

"I think we should postpone the rest of this sleep over for next time. I need to head home and see if everything is okay there," Lacrima said, heading upstairs to get her things. "Even though I don't get along with my mother, she's still my mom and the only family I have. I'll feel guilty if something were to happen and I wasn't there with her."

"Are you sure? They did say to stay indoors," Nirdesa questioned, "But I'm not going to stop you if you want to leave. It's not like everyone is listening to the news anyway. There are still a bunch of people outside. So I don't think anyone will try to pull something with the police patrolling the area."

''Yeah, it's better that I get home soon as possible," she said, pausing at the top of the stairs, "before the situation gets worst."

She left, leaving Yuu and Nirdesa downstairs.

"Lacrima makes a good point. It's best that I leave too. I know my parents need me in a situation like this. I assume you're going to go to the supermarket?" Yuu asked, moving away from the window and walking towards the stairs.

Nirdesa grabbed her house keys from the wall hook and followed Yuu.

"First, I'm going to walk you and Lacrima to your bus stops. I don't want to worry about you guys not making it there. Then, I'll worry if you two got home safely," Nirdesa said. "Are you sure you don't want to wait until my parents comes home to give the both of you a ride?"

"No, that's okay. We don't know how long it will take for them to get back. Lacrima is right, it can get worst and we better go when we're able to. I wouldn't be surprise if the traffic is bad," Yuu said, entering Nirdesa's bedroom and pausing at the entrance to look at her. "It's probably why your parents are talking a while to come back. If not, it's definitely because there are long check out lines. I remember last month there was a major storm alert with flood warning and strong winds. Everyone went out to stocked up on supplies and it turned out to be nothing."

"I'll try not to stress out about it and worry too much. But that would also mean that the buses will be effected too. There's still a bunch of people running around last time we checked."

"True. If the buses are stuck in traffic, I'll just walk home. It's not that far," Yuu said, entering the room and nodding at Lacrima, who was struggling with her over packed bag. Nirdesa came over, and helped pushed down on the bag in order for her to zipped it closed.

"You're joking right? It's a long ass walk," she said, "and it's hot. I don't know how you do it."

Yuu shrugged, packing the rest of her things away. "I try not to rely too much on the bus, so sometimes I walk. It's good to exorcise my legs once in a while."

"I'll try to call or text you even though it may not work," Lacrima said, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Me too. If I can't contact you through the phone I'll try the computer," Yuu said, strapping on her backpack. "Maybe, it will work."

"Okay, so what's the plan for when something goes wrong?" Nirdesa asked.

"We need a place to meet," Lacrima stated.

"That sounds good, but where? It needs to be somewhere safe and that we all know of," Yuu said, biting her bottom lip. "Usually in natural disasters, hospitals, churches, community centers, schools and sometimes stadiums are use as shelters to provide relief."

"Good idea. How about the school?" Nirdesa suggested, "We all know where it is, it's not far from our homes and it's safe. If things get really bad, it has a fallout shelter and we know the school like the back of our hands. It's also not yet closed for the summer and it hasn't been that long since we've graduated either. So it's not like it would be weird to see us there. Nor would it be that difficult to convince the guards to let us in."

"The school? That can work," Yuu said, nodding.

"Same here," Lacrima agreed, "But what if the school isn't reachable? We need another option."

"Nothing is coming to mind," Nirdesa said.

"Maybe my place? I know it's a bit away, but it's big enough to fit us all. Plus, there's a market store, a church, and a elementary school all within walking distance," Yuu suggested.

"That can work. We all know where it is. Even though it's a bit farther away from me, it is easy to get to. Plus, if anything was to happen we have those places to fall back on as well. Will your parents be okay with us crashing there?" Lacrima asked.

"No. But if this really is an emergency or end of the world kind of thing, it'll be the least of their worries," Yuu stated, "We'll be safer and stronger to face whatever happens together than apart."

"I can't think of any other place we can go to. So, yeah, your place is plan b if the school isn't available," Nirdesa quipped, "And if your place doesn't work out, than it's a good thing there are other options."

"When we get back home, we should pack some sort of emergency bag. Like first aid, extra clothes, non-perishable food, water, sleeping bags, blankets and whatnot. So that way, if something were to happen we can just grab it and go," Yuu said, thinking out loud.

"Good idea," Larcrima agreed.

"So this is the plan. If our neighborhood isn't safe at all or our home isn't, then we'll head straight go to the school. However, if our home is safe for the time being, we'll take the chance to pack a couple of emergency bags. And if the school isn't safe then we'll head to Yuu's place. If Yuu's place isn't safe, we can go to the church or school in her area. Anything else to add?" Nirdesa inquired.

"No. I think that's all," Yuu voiced.

"Before we go, I want to write a message to my parents in case they come home," Nirdesa quipped, "I don't want them to freak out if we're not here."

Nirdesa grabbed a notebook from on top of the coffee table and torn a piece a paper from it. She wrote a message to her parents and taped the message onto the hallway wall next to the front door.

"There's no way they'll miss that," she said, "Let's go."

With that, all three of them went out of the house. Nirdesa locked up, leading Yuu and Lacrima to their bus stops.

Despite it being pretty busy, many of the other streets were empty and quite a few stores were closed. _'I guess it just seem crowded because it's a main street and it's always busy. But people aren't interested in shoes and dresses at this time. So it's not surprising to see that most of these shops are closed. More will probably close earlier, before the curfew. People will be more focus in getting food and more important things,'_ Yuu mused.

Lacrima was the first to leave the group. Her home was in the opposite direction of Yuu, while Nirdesa was in the middle of them. It was also one of the reasons they decided a sleepover at Nirdesa's place was better. _'Four, no five years of friendship and I have yet to actually visit Larcrima's home. Both of our homes are quite a distance apart from each other, but that is no excuse. She has visited my home twice and it's not exactly fair that I haven't. When all this settles down, I'm definitely going to make the effort to visit her.'_

"This is it. The bus should take you straight down. I hope you make it home safe. Remember, if anything happens you know where to go right?" Nirdesa questioned, watching as the bus came closer. It stopped, opening the doors.

"I do. Thanks for the sleep over. I wish it could have ended well but next time it'll be better," Yuu said, climbing the steps and turning to look at her.

"It will be way better. See you later then," she replied, waving.

"Yeah, see you later!" Yuu shouted, before the doors close. She turned back to the bus driver and saw him glaring at her for making him wait.

"Sorry," she apologized, while giving him her bus ticket and going to the back of the bus to sit down. _'Why did that goodbye sound like it'll be the last time I see her and Lacrima again? I keep getting this feeling that something will happen or going to happen. Maybe I'm being an idiot because I just don't like saying goodbyes?'_ she thought, staring out the window. She watched as the bus got farther away from Nirdesa's form.

The bus wasn't too crowded. It seem like more people decided to walk on foot to avoid the traffic. Though there was still plenty of traffic on the road. _'It's gonna be a while until I reach home,'_

Yuu nodded off, but awoke when the bus jumped from a pothole. She jerked, and stood up quickly. She looked around, noticing that she was the only one on the bus besides the bus driver.

Finding herself feeling lonely, she walked over to the front and sat next to the door. She looked up to the bus driver and stare at him for a bit, trying to find a way to start a conversion.

"Hi, um, I'm sorry again for earlier. I didn't mean to make you wait," she said, eyeing the streets.

"It's all right. I'm a bit jumpy," he replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "And it's been a long day, but that doesn't mean I should take it out on you."

"It's understandable," she said, looking out the window, "With everything that's going on, it's hard to not be stressful about it. I'm sure that some people don't make it easy for you either."

"Yeah, that's for sure. People seem to lose the ability to think straight when something goes wrong. It's even worst then things start to fall apart."

"If you don't mind me asking, why come to work?" she replied, perplexed.

"I have a job to do. Just like the police, the fireman, and the government officials still have. Just because things are bad, it doesn't give us the right to abandon our responsibilities to the people."

"I see," she said, smiling. _'I didn't consider that. I just thought he was forced to work at a time like this.'_

Yuu looked out the window, noticing that the streets were becoming less and less of people and cars. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not, considering she was getting closer to her home. Her area was mostly quiet and it'll be difficult to tell if something was wrong with it.

"There's barely any traffic around here," she stated, frowning.

"That's because not that many are using the buses in this area," he said. "No one has a reason to be come here, unless they live here. Or they're all staying home. Downtown is where all the activity is at and it's a lot more crowded than usual."

Yuu pressed the yellow tape and stood up holding the metal bar near her.

"Wow," she replied, alarmed. "I guess it makes sense to stay close to home, than go far. And everything is within walking distance here. So if they need something, it's usually around the corner."

"It's the smart thing to do," he said, stopping the bus.

"Thanks for the ride," she said, nodding her head.

"You're welcome. But there's no need to thank me. I'm just doing my job," he acknowledged, pulling the stick to open the doors. "Take care and be careful."

"I will and I hope you'll be careful too," she exclaimed, giving a small wave goodbye and leaving the bus.

She turned and watched as the bus driver close the doors. He nodded to her before driving off. She sighed and started walking home. It was silent, her sneakers scarping against the concrete was the only sound. No one was around and most of the stores appear closed. _'It's abnormally quiet,'_ she thought, frowning. _'Where are the birds? The wind shaking the leaves on the trees?'_

She turned the corner, walking down the street and keeping an eye out for people. _'Nothing, not even the neighbor's dogs are outside barking at me as I pass by. They always do.'_

She reached her building, pulling out her keys and unlocking the door. She quickly locked the door behind her and hurried up the stairs to her apartment. She entered inside, realizing that it was just as silent. _'Even though my family is the only ones living in this entire building, it shouldn't be this quiet. Where's the sound of my dad listening to the radio as he tries to fix a broken flashlight? Where's the sound of my mom getting a head start on lunch?'_

She walked around kitchen, noticing that there were dirty dishes in the sink. _'So they had breakfast at some point,'_ she thought, _'But around this time my mom should have been in the kitchen making lunch. So where is she and my dad? They should have heard me coming up the stairs.'_

Yuu, headed to the living room, but something made a strange noise in the porch. _'Is that them?!' ___

__She ran to it, but her foot got caught on the rug. She tripped, her book bag siding off her shoulder, blocking her arms from catching herself. As she fell, she banged her head on a side table that was next to the couch. Her vision went dark and the last thing she heard was something skittering across floor._ _


	3. The Darkness Is Consuming The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: I ended up rewriting this entire chapter, which is why it took a while for me to post it. I’m also going to rewrite the rest of the chapters as well, because I can’t help but grimace at my old work. There’s a lot of details, lack of consistency, scenes and whatnot missing that would definitely improve this story. Also, this rewrite turn out to be a lot longer than the original chapter, so don’t be surprise if that ends up being the case for the rest of the chapters.

**Chapter 3**

**The Darkness Is Consuming The Light**

The darkness that engulfed Yuu slowly peeled away as the throbbing pain in her head brought her out of unconsciousness. She opened her eyes, her vision dark and blurry. _‘What the hell happened?’_ she thought, wincing. _‘Ugh, my head...’_

She lifted her head, looking into the kitchen window and notice that it was still light out. _‘Has it only been a few minutes? An hour? Or is it a new day entirely?’_

Yuu was still on the floor, reluctant to get up knowing that the pain in her head would hurt even more as she moved around. With a sigh, she prepared herself and slowly raised herself up into a sitting position. She raised a hand to her head, feeling something dry and crusty on the side of her face. _‘Blood, dry blood. I must have been here for a while.’_

She looked down, noticing a patch of dry blood on the floor. _‘Something is obviously wrong here. My parents aren’t here, nor is my beloved pet. But I haven’t search the entire building either, so they could still be here. At the very least, there could be a clue as to what happen to them. Maybe they were in a hurry and had to leave? Where would they go though? And they wouldn’t do that without leaving me some kind of message.’_

She leaned against the table, and stood up. _‘First, I need to check my injury.’_

She carefully patted the cut, hissing once she came in contact with it. _'Damn! There’s a pretty big bump too. I need some ice to bring down the bump. And some alcohol for the cut,' she thought, carefully rubbing the dry blood off._

_Yuu picked up her bag, winching as her head protested the sudden movement. She walked into the kitchen, placing her bag on top of the table. She look up at the clock on the wall and then the microwave clock. _‘Either a few minutes has pass or I was out for a whole day. I guess it really doesn’t matter at the moment.’__

_She went to the refrigerator, opening the freezer and grabbing four ice cubes from the ice tray. She closed it, walking around the table to a drawer that contains plastic bags. She took one, placing the ice cubes in it and looking for something to wrap around the bag._

_She spotted a thick towel hanging on the back of a chair. She got it and wrapped it around the bag. Gently she place it on top of her head. _‘That should help,’_ she thought, wincing when she pressed a little too hard. _‘Now, to treat the cut.’__

_She headed to the bathroom, flicking on the switch once she enter the room. She place the make-shift cold compress down, while opening the cabinet. Her eyes scanned the inside, searching for some cotton balls and the plastic bottle of antiseptic._

_She couldn't find any cotton balls to use, so instead she took out some tissues. She spotted the antiseptic, placing the item on the counter top with the tissues. Once both items were found, she washed her hands before lifting herself on the counter._

_She looked into the mirror. titling her head and looking at the nasty bump with some dry blood still in her hair. She grimace, grabbing the tissues and opening the bottle. She dab some of the clear liquid on the tissue and pressed it to the bump._

_“Fuushh!” she hissed, her eyes watering from the alcohol disinfecting the cut. _‘I should have gone with the hydrogen peroxide instead. That wouldn't hurt as much as the alcohol,’_ she thought, sighing in relief when the burning went down._

_She finished cleaning the cut, placing a band-aid on it and she washed out the bit of blood from her hair. She gathered the bloody tissues, placing them inside the small trashcan and got down from the counter. Before she turned off the light, she took some aspirin for her headache and place the ice bag back on her head again. Now that her head injury was dealt with she could focus more clearly on her situation._

__‘I need to check the building,’_ she thought, scanning the kitchen. She walked over to a drawer, pulling out a knife, _‘Just in case.’__

_She place the ice bag down. _‘I won’t have a good grip on the knife if my other hand is occupied with this, nor can I opened the doors either.’__

_She checked each room, noticing that everything was still in place. _‘I didn’t pay attention at first, but the car is still parked outside. They didn’t leave unless someone gave them a ride. But they wouldn’t leave their clothes behind...and not the house keys, wallets, and important documents. Hell, they wouldn’t have left without calling or leaving me a message.’__

_She looked upstairs, not surprise to see that was completely empty. The same could be said about the downstairs apartment as well. _‘All that’s left to search is the basement,’_ she thought, holding the doorknob to the basement door. _‘I really don’t want to look here, but I need to be thorough.’_ _

_She bit her lower lip and turned the knob. It was dark and dusty. She moved closer, the step creaking from her weight. She flipped the middle switch up and the lights came on. It was just as silence like the rest of the building. _‘It’s creepy down here, but I guess all basements are,’_ she thought, checking each room. _‘Nothing. Just like the rest of the building.’__

_She shut the lights off and locked the basement door before going back upstairs. _‘I feel like I missing something important. Maybe I just imagine it, but I could have swore I wasn’t alone before I got knocked out. But that’s silly, I check everywhere. If someone really was here, they’re long gone by now,’_ she thought, putting down the knife and picking up the ice bag._

_She leaned against the wall, holding up the bag of ice to her head. _‘Could it have been one of those creatures? But didn’t the news say it’s safe indoors? Or have they found a way to get inside? As much as I don’t like assuming the worst, I don’t know what else to think. it’s possible that something happen to my parents. Either they left with just the clothes on their backs on foot, to who knows where or the creatures got to them. Knowing my parents, there is no way that they would leave anywhere on foot when we have a car, which is still parked outside. I don’t want to admit it but...’__

_“They’re gone,” she said out loud. _‘All I’ve been doing is thinking and it’s not getting me anywhere. I just keep going in circles. I need to take action. I need to get in touch with everyone and see what they know.’__

_She pushed off the wall, throwing the bag of ice into the sink. She walked into the living room, picking up the cordless phone. She dial Nirdesa's number first, but the phone made a busy signal. She tried dialing Lacrima’s number, some of her family phones and her other friends, and they were all unreachable as well. _‘I’m being optimistic thinking that the phones were working again.’__

_Annoyed she placed the phone back down and grabbed the remote controls for the television. _‘Maybe there’s something on the news?’__

_She turned it on. Most of the channels were repeating the same message that she last saw on television when she was with her friends. While she waited for any new information to appear, she pull back her computer chair and sat down on it. _‘Who knows how long the electricity will last. I better check online and see if I can reach someone or if they left me a message.’__

_She turned her laptop on and log into her messenger. Her eyes went straight to her buddy list, but no one was on._ ‘Well, at least I’m having better luck on here because I can get online. I was hoping that someone was on,’ she thought, slouching over her seat.

She stared at the screen, narrowing her eyes. _‘I guess it wouldn’t hurt to send messages and emails just in case.’_

She wrote an open message to all her friends and family. She wrote that she was fine, currently at home and that if they ever got this message to replied back because the phone lines are a bust. She also included how her parents are missing and was wondering if anyone had any information on them. And if there was any new information on the news. When she finished she sent the message with her fingers crossed.

She left the laptop on so that she would be alerted to any new messages. She got up and walked over to the window and looked out of it. Outside there was no one in sight, not the squirrels and not even the birds that were always flying around. She saw plenty of cars parked though.

Further down the street she noticed that there were two cars in the middle of the road with their doors opened wide. _‘I don’t remember seeing that when I got home. Maybe I missed it? I was more focus on getting home than looking around. Unless that happen sometime when I was asleep. Something bad must have happen. The way these cars are parked look like they were in a hurry to get away from something,’_ she thought, ‘People don't leave their cars unlock in a city like this.’ 

She moved from the window and sat back down in front of her computer. She checked the television and turned it off when she realize she wasn’t going to get anything new out of it.

She turned back to the internet, researching as much as she could about the black creatures that were attacking the world. She didn't find that much about them only that these black creatures with yellow eyes attack in groups and use their claws as weapons. They jump on their victims until nothing of them is seen. What’s left of the victim is their glowing heart that fades into the air. No one knows what happens to their body or where their heart goes. Nor what the purpose of these creatures are and what can be done to protect yourself against them. They can still be hurt with weapons, but their sheer numbers makes it difficult to handle.

These creatures are like shadows or at least travel around using the dark. It’s why the night is so dangerous to be out at. It’s still unknown if they fear or dislike the light. So most people have been keeping their lights on and stocking up on flashlights and candles. Though there have been some reports that conflict with that information, saying that the creatures are strongest in the dark and aren’t that effected by the light.

Yuu was so consumed with research that before she knew it, it was a new day. _‘After all, information is power. I need to know everything about these creatures in order to know what actions to take to better protect myself and my home,’_ she thought, sighing and rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. _‘I also need to rest. I can’t do anything if I’m about to pass out in my chair.’_

“I still haven’t gotten any messages back. I might as well use this time to rest,” she mused, looking at the clock. “It’s still early. I might as well grab something quick to eat, shower and get some sleep.”

She increase the volume on her laptop, so that the sound of a new message would be loud enough for her to hear. She also ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before taking a quick shower. She locked the building up and decided to sleep on the living room sofa. She would be closer to her computer to hear it. But just in case, she also set an alarm to prevent her from oversleeping.

It was a couple of hours later when Yuu woke up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing. She winced, pressing the snooze button and rubbing her eyes of sleep. She stretched, checking the time on her laptop. Her eyes widen, spotting that she missed the message alert, even when she put it on loud.

_‘It’s from Nirdesa,’_ she thought, clicking on the message and reading it. _‘She’s asking for help and to meet up at the school. She got in contact with Lacrima and she’s going to meet us there. She says that she met up with her parents at the supermarket and they all went home. When it was time to sleep, she thought she heard an odd scratching noise at her window. She checked, but there was nothing outside, so she figured it was just her imagination. But the next day her parents disappeared. The last time she saw of them was in their bedroom right before they went to sleep. There’s no sign of them anywhere. Their car is still there and she’s really freaked out. She doesn’t want to be alone or even stay at her house because it’s not safe anymore. The power is going out in some of the areas. So she doesn’t know if I’ll even see this message. But she’s sending it in case I still have electricity. If she reaches the school before me, she’ll be sure to leave a message at the school’s bulletin board for me.’_

Yuu opened a new message and typed that she’ll meet up with them as planned. As soon as she finished typing the lights flickered. Quickly, she sent the message, knowing that the power will go out at any moment. And it did, everything went dark.

“It’s going to be a long and dangerous walk. I haven’t even heard any cars driving around and I doubt the buses are still running. If they are, the traffic lights and the street lights are out also and that’s going to make things difficult. I will have better luck going on foot, better yet I should take my bike. Though, I haven’t used it in years so I don’t know if it’s still in working condition.”

Yuu looked out of the window, noting that without electricity the city will be much darker at night. _‘I’ve got about a few hours before the sun begins to set. Those creatures are more likely to be coming out as soon as the sun goes down. I need to pack whatever else I’ll need and leave now. It’s gonna take me an hour and a half, maybe more if I run into trouble to get there.’_

Yuu looked away from the window and picked up her book bag, placing it on the sofa. _‘I still have my sleeping bag, clothes and toiletry bag packed from the sleepover with Nirdesa and Lacrima. But I’m also going to need some essential things to survive for a while. I need canned goods, granola bars, water bottles, ramen, money, can opener, fork and spoon, first aid kit, aspirins, flashlight, five packs of batteries, some candles, lighter or matches, playing cards and maybe a book or two? Those last two things are optional, but I need something to keep me entertained and I doubt Nirdesa and Lacrima have thought about that. I think that’s it. As much as I wish that everything would fit into one bag it isn’t going to, so I’m going to need another bag too.’_

She went into her room and went through her closet, looking for a bag that could fit the rest of the things that her book bag didn’t. 

_‘This could work,’_ she thought, pulling out a messenger bag.

She left her room, grabbing the food items in her kitchen and placing them insider her bags. She also grabbed the other items that she thought about, but she knew that she didn’t have everything already at home.

_‘I’m going have to make a stop at the corner store.’_

Yuu grabbed her keys and an empty bag. _‘I should also bring something to protect myself in case I run into one of those things...or a crazy person.’_

She slid the knife into her back pocket and locked the doors behind her. She looked around the neighborhood, frowning at how empty and silence it is. She headed left, walking down the sidewalk with a quick stride. She turned left and kept straight until she reached the corner store.

Before she entered, she looked inside to make sure if was safe.

_‘I don’t see any people or those creatures. But the lights are on and the sign on the door says open. So either those creatures got to the owners, they’re in hiding or they left in a hurry without closing up. Is the door even unlocked?’_

She pulled on the door and it opened. _‘Oh, good. I don’t have to debate with myself on whether to become a criminal or not. I just need to get in and out with the stuff I need.’_

She walked inside, the bell above the door chiming. _‘Well, the element of surprise is gone.’_

“Hello? Is anyone here?” she asked, glancing around, “I’m human, if my talking in English isn’t obvious enough.”

Silence greeted her in response. 

_‘It’s just me in here,’_ she thought, walking inside and scanning the shelves. _‘Most of these are empty and some are knocked to the ground. It’s pretty safe to assume that some looting was going on. Hopefully, I can still find what I need.’_

Yuu manage to get what she needed, but the looters took off with majority of the items in the store. _‘I could check the back room for more supplies, if there’s any left, but I’m not going to push my luck or waste anymore time. I got what I need and I better get going now.’_

She left some money on the counter, ignoring the fact that the cash register was broken into. _‘This may be the end of the world, but at least it’s one less thing that I won’t have a guilty conscious about,’_ she thought, pulling the bag strap tighter on her shoulder. 

Yuu ran back home, removing the bag of supplies and distributing the items to her backpack and messenger bag. She slid on the backpack first and than her messenger. She took out the knife from her pocket and placed it on the table.

_‘The bags are heavy to carry, but manageable. Now, the problem is the knife. It’s dangerous to go out there without a weapon, but I’m more likely to hurt myself with that on me. I need something better and maybe something that doesn’t require me to get up close and personal. What if I...’_

Yuu grabbed duct tape and a broom. She unscrew the bristle part from the broom and attached the knife with tape onto it. She stabbed the air a few times and slammed it against the cabinet.

_‘It’s holding together, but it definitely won’t last long. Maybe a few stabs until it breaks? A crowbar is more reliable than this. Wait...’_ she thought, slapping her forehead in exasperation at herself, _‘I’m an idiot. There’s a crowbar in the basement.’_

She place her flimsy weapon on the table and went downstairs to the basement to get the crowbar. She found it leaning against the tool bench. While she was there she also looked for her bicycle. She saw behind a couple of boxes it in one of the storage rooms. It was dusty, but the pink and white colors on it still stood out. She moved the boxes out of the way and pulled the bike out.

_‘I thought it would be faded by now. I like the bike, but the only thing I disliked about it was the colors. It’s too bright and childish. I never thought about it when I was younger, but it’s why I don’t use it now. I’m just sick of companies marketing female products with pink or light colors. The color pink shouldn’t be known or exclusive to girls and women. They should offer more color options,'_ Yuu thought, frowning as she looked it over.

_‘Right now, the color of the bike is the less of my worries. It looks to be in working condition, but those tires look super worn. I might have to replace them, but I don’t have any spares and there isn’t a store nearby selling them either. I’ll just have to fill them with air and hope that they’ll last long enough for me to reach my destination. I also need to clean the chain and get rid of the dust buildup and hope that it’s not too bad.’_

She search for a firm brush to brush out the chain links from dust and dirt. Once done, she used some chain oil on it and wipe off the excess with a dry rag. It took her a while to find the pump, because it was hidden in one of the boxes. She filled the tires with air and tested the bike by getting on it and seeing how it handle her weight and the bags she was carrying.

Satisfied that it held together, she carried it to the front door. She leaned the crowbar next to it and went back upstairs. She grabbed the duct tape, putting it inside her bag and picked up the makeshift weapon. Before she went back downstairs, she left a written message on the kitchen table in case her parents or anyone else came looking for her.

_‘I think that’s it. I have everything and I left a letter explaining why I’m leaving, where I’m going and who I might be with,’_ Yuu thought, closing and locking the door to her apartment. She went back downstairs, pulling the front door open and slipping her bike outside. She picked up the crowbar, putting it into her messenger bag. It was still sticking out, but that was how she wanted it. _‘I’ll be easy to reach, once this thing breaks,’_ she thought, gripping the knife spear she made.

She locked her front door, glancing around before picking up the bicycle again and carrying down the steps. She looked back at her house once last time and then got onto her bike. She held the knife spear horizontal, across the handlebars and carefully went up the street, turning left onto the main street. She continue riding down the street, relieve that her bicycle hasn’t broken down even though she hasn’t used it in years. 

Yuu kept looking frequently at her surroundings as she peddle down the street. Whenever she came across obstacles, she stopped, carefully walking her bike around vehicles and debris. She also kept track of the time, making sure to move quicker as the sun continued to sink into the ground. 

She stopped in front of a dojo, a training place specifically for martial arts such as aikido, judo, karate, or samurai. _‘It’s gonna be dark in two hours and I could do with a much better weapon than the knife-speared I made. Hopefully, there’s something there or else this will be a waste of time,’_ Yuu thought, getting off her bike and leading it against an abandon car. She also left the knife-spear next to it. _‘I’m not gonna be needing this just yet. I might not even use it if I can find something in there. Though I still have the crowbar on me in case something happens._

She pull opened the door, smiling in relief that it wasn’t locked. She climbed the stairs, entering a small hallway that opens up to the dojo. She stopped at the entrance, noticing a shoe rack. _‘I know that people need to remove their shoes before going inside because it’s a way to keep the dojo’s floors clean, but it also symbolizes leaving your ego, and your troubles at the front door. Considering that this may be the end of the world, I think I’m excused from doing so. Cuz I rather not waste anymore time and who knows, what if I took my shoes off only to get attack and I had to escape? I wouldn’t want to run around in my socks, with who knows what on the ground.’_

She quietly walked onto the wooden floored building, searching for weapons. At the back of the large room she immediately spotted weapons mounted on the wall. There were a bunch of weapons that she recognize; nunchaku, shinai, bo, bokken, kunai, katana, shuriken, tanto, sai, tonfa, and many others. Most of them were multiples of the same weapon, which were probably used for training purposes.

She found herself a katana and a tanto mounted on the back wall. There was also a rack filled with training gear, but nothing about them interested Yuu. However, she was very pleased with the find of the weapons.

_‘I still have the crowbar on my back, inside my bag. But I also have the messenger bag on my left. I’m right-handed, so I’m going to have to switch the bag to my right side and put the katana on my left. I’ll be best if I slip it into my belt, inside the jean’s loop so that the sheath won’t fall out when I take the katana out. As for the tanto I can put that in my messenger bag. It’s got a back pocket that I can easily get into if I needed it,’_ Yuu thought, putting everything into their new spots.

Once done, she went outside and picked up her makeshift weapon. _‘Maybe I should ditch this here. It’s flimsy. Actually, I could probably replace this with the naginata that was up on the wall.’_

She stared at it for a few seconds and dropped it onto the ground. She went back inside the building to retrieve the naginata. She leaned it against the wall as she pull up her bike and sat on the seat. She picked up the naginata and laid it across the handle bars.

_‘I need to get there. I’m halfway there and there’s about an hour left of daylight,’ _she thought, seeing that the sun was much lower now.__

__She ride past abandon cars and litter, sometimes going on the sidewalk to avoid other roadblocks. The closer Yuu got to her destination, the darker the sky became. _‘I wonder if it means anything when it’s the end of the world and there’s a pretty sunset?’__ _

__Yuu glanced up, noticing the gold and red colors in the sky. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the naginata and the bike’s bars tighter. _‘Shit, I have about 20, maybe 30 minutes top until the sunset is over.’__ _

__She increased her speed, nearly running into things as she tried to keep track of the sunset and her surroundings at the same time. She was riding towards the setting sun and she could already feel those yellow eyes at the back of her head. She didn’t dare to turn around and look, because she knew they’ll probably be coming out of the shadows now._ _

__She was beginning to pant and sweat as she push herself to go faster. The air felt cool as it got darker, giving her goosebumps on her uncovered skin._ I’m almost there. I can see the intersection up ahead. I just need to turn left onto the street and I’ll be right in front of the school.’ _she thought, wincing as she nearly went flying head first into a pothole, but manage to avoid it in time. _’Shit! That was close. Get it together Yuu! You’re almost there. Focus on getting there before whatever it is that’s in the dark swarms the street.’___

__From the corner of her eyes she noticed the darkness growing and reaching out to her with claws and hungry yellow eyes. With what was still left of the light she manage to pick out that it wasn’t just a massive form with many eyes and claws. Instead it consisted of many creatures and there was just so many of them that it was hard to make out._ _

__Yuu made it to the intersection and turn onto the street where her school is located. Unfortunately, the sun had set and the streetlamps haven’t turned on once she reach the front of her school._ ‘Of course, the power is out.’_

She stopped, getting off the bike and quickly pulling out crowbar from her backpack. She was surrounded on all sides by so the creatures. _‘I am not going to die when I’m so freaking close! I’m definitely outnumber, but I just need to go through them to get to the doors. That’s if it’s not locked. I got the crowbar to pry it open, but I won’t have time with them around. I could break the glass, but then there’s no way to keep them from following me inside. Shit! And where’s Nirdesa and Larcrima?! I was hoping I would see them keeping watch or guarding the entrance. Unless they’re not here?’_

Yuu was warily, finding it strange that the creatures hadn’t attacked her the moment she got off the bicycle. _'I need to deal with them first before thinking about my friends.’_

She stared at them, noting that they’re small, about knee length and swaying side to side. They didn’t have any features besides unblinking yellow eyes and curly antennas. Their claws were their only weapons as far as she could tell. 

She frown, gripping her crowbar and slowly moved into a stance. She knew she couldn’t fight them all, but she can try to rush them and mow them down as best as she could. _‘Maybe I should have used the katana, but it’s too late now.'_

The creatures took her fighting stance as a cue to advance towards her. Without a second thought, Yuu didn’t wait for them to attack her first. She ran, plowing through them and swinging the crowbar side to side to knock them away. She wince whenever one of them manage to catch her with their claws, but she force the pain down. 

She was lucky that they didn’t expect her to do that. Otherwise they would have jumped onto her unguarded back, weighing her even further down. Her bags were heavy and she was already fatigued from carrying them and riding her bike with urgency. But she was still able to get through them to the entrance. 

While the creatures picked themselves off the ground, the others rushed at her, jumping with their claws out. She pulled at each door, checking to see if one of them was opened while keeping her back against the doors. She did her best to dodge their attacks and strike back at the creatures. _‘Shit, shit, shit. They’re all locked. I should have held up in one of these buildings before it got to dark and waited until morning. But it’s too late to regret anything now,’_ she thought, kicking one away from her and stabbing the crowbar into it. It disappeared in a wisp of black smoke, a glowing pink heart also appeared and vanished afterwards.

_‘What the...nope, now isn’t the time to lose focus.’_

Yuu held her ground, breathing heavily while keeping them at bay for as long as she could. She knew she was trapped now, and there were no way she could escape. _‘Whatever happens I’m not going down without giving them hell,’_ she thought, grimacing because it was getting harder for her to ignore the pain as the scratches accumulated on her body. 

As tired as she was, somewhere deep inside she felt that she had to hold on. She pushed herself to keep swinging, to keep the fighting even though she knew that with each hit she was losing strength. She couldn’t explain it, but there was something in the air, a strange sensation like it was building up, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

Then she heard it.

It felt like a whisper, a gentle caress of air. It was undecipherable, but it certainly carried an emotion to it. It was the first sign of life she heard all day. She couldn’t focus on the sound while fighting, but it seem to grow stronger whenever she did. And so did the strange feeling inside of her. 

One of the creatures manage to scratch her neck, causing her to hiss in anger and knocked it into the door, cracking the thick glass. 

“...darkness...”

“What?” she breathe, trying to listen in. She leaned against the door about to collapse in exhaustion. The rush of adrenaline had since run out of her system and only through sheer willpower she was still going. 

“...darkness...light...”

She stomped on a creature, stabbing it and slamming another with the other end of the crowbar.

“...consume...”

And it clicked in her mind, _‘that’s my voice!’_

Yuu’s face scrunched up in confusion and surprise. _‘Am I going insane?!’_

“The darkness is consuming the light...”

She blocked a creature from jumping on her, and knocked it away.

“And in a little time we all shall return again...”

The voice sounding eerie similar to Yuu’s increase in volume.

“Into the vast, unanswering darkness...”

Unexpectedly, everything slowed down once the voice faded. The strange sensation Yuu felt deep inside turn to dread. It spread over her skin like a chill. The creatures moved so slowly as though someone cast a spell to slow down time. Unlike them, she couldn’t move her body at all, but she heard a familiar voice calling out her name.

_‘Nirdesa?’_

Yuu tired to turn her head, but only manage to move her eyes. She caught sight of Nirdesa and Larcima running towards her with weapons in their hands. She tried to call back, but her mouth refused to cooperate with her and as much as she was filled with joy in seeing that her friends were fine, her dread increased.

They came closer to her, screaming and waving their arms above their heads. Yuu wasn’t sure if they were trying to warn her of something or trying to distract the creatures to give her a chance to escape. But whatever it was, it was too late to figure out.

Yuu suddenly felt empty and cold. She was falling slowly backwards, like someone pushed her into a pool of ice cold water. The voices of her friends were drowned out. She was only able to see the glowing yellow eyes of the creatures. They were reaching out, trying to claim her, but she faded into darkness before they could. And that was the last thing she could remember as her eyes grew heavy with sleep.


End file.
